[ LETTER ]

Historical Precedent Provides Rationale For Limits on Guns

Published: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 12:08 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 12:08 a.m.

I'm referencing the opinion from the highest court because there's a lot of misinformation from both sides of the gun-control issue. Debate predominantly circles around the meaning of the word infringe, and whether constitutional rights are absolute.

Our courts interpret our laws based on historical precedent. In District of Columbia, et al v. Heller, the Supreme Court, siding with Heller, found the District of Columbia's ban on handguns was unconstitutional, yet it further indicated that the Second Amendment is clearly conditional.

In the majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia writes: "Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited. From Blackstone through the 19th-century cases, commentators and courts routinely explained that the right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever, and for whatever purpose. For example, the majority of the 19th-century courts to consider the question held that prohibitions on carrying concealed weapons were lawful under the Second Amendment or state analogues.

"Although we do not undertake an exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on long-standing prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.

"We also recognize another important limitation on the right to keep and carry arms.

"Miller said, as we have explained, that the sorts of weapons protected were those ‘in common use at the time.' We think that limitation is fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of ‘dangerous and unusual weapons.'?"

Find full text at www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/07-290.pdf.

<p>I'm referencing the opinion from the highest court because there's a lot of misinformation from both sides of the gun-control issue. Debate predominantly circles around the meaning of the word infringe, and whether constitutional rights are absolute.</p><p>Our courts interpret our laws based on historical precedent. In District of Columbia, et al v. Heller, the Supreme Court, siding with Heller, found the District of Columbia's ban on handguns was unconstitutional, yet it further indicated that the Second Amendment is clearly conditional.</p><p>In the majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia writes: "Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited. From Blackstone through the 19th-century cases, commentators and courts routinely explained that the right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever, and for whatever purpose. For example, the majority of the 19th-century courts to consider the question held that prohibitions on carrying concealed weapons were lawful under the Second Amendment or state analogues.</p><p>"Although we do not undertake an exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on long-standing prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.</p><p>"We also recognize another important limitation on the right to keep and carry arms.</p><p>"Miller said, as we have explained, that the sorts of weapons protected were those 'in common use at the time.' We think that limitation is fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of 'dangerous and unusual weapons.'?"</p><p>Find full text at www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/07-290.pdf.</p><p>GLENN REYNOLDS</p><p>Lake Alfred</p>